Improvement in hydraulic motors



'B. A. BLOCH.

Hydraulic Motors. v Patented March 25,1873

AM PHO ra-Lmm GRAPHIC Ca MY. (osaonus's macssg) UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

' BORAGH ALBERT BLOCH, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HYDRAULIC MOTORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 137,171, dated March 25, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known thatl, BORAGH ALBERT BLooH, of Paris, France, have invented an Improvement in Hydraulic Motors, of which the following is a specification:

In my invention the motive agent (water or other liquid) need not be renewed. It is recovered as fast as it produces its useful effect on the motor, and is brought back again by means of pumps, which are providedfor the purpose. The motor, which receives its motion from the water, is a wheel furnished with movable buckets, and capable of being turned in one direction or the other, according to the adjustment of the said buckets.

The construction and operation of my improved apparatus will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the complete apparatus; Fig. 2, a plan view; Fig. 3, a transverse section on the line 1 2, Fig. 1; and Figs. 4. and 5, enlarged views of the hydraulic wheel. I

The wheel is mounted on a shaft, A, carrying a pulley, p, for transmitting the power derived from the wheel, and is composed of a series of buckets, a, which are suspended from pins or trunnions h on the fellies of two caps, O O, keyed on the shaft A. Inside and adjacent to each of these caps is a plate, S, having slots d, into which enter pins 6 on the sides of the buckets. Each plate S is mounted loosely upon the hub of the water-wheel in such a manner that a limited independent movement upon the said hub, to the extent shown by the lines a0 a, Fig. 4, may be imparted to it. This movement is to exactly reverse the angle of the buckets, so that the wheel may turn in a reverse direction. So, by turning the plates in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 4, the slots in the said plates will move the pins 6, and cause the buckets to swing round on their axes b to the position shown by the dotted lines 1 The movement imparted to the plates S is very slight, and may be obtained by securing to the pin f, Fig. 5, either a threaded bolt whose nut will be mounted on one of the arms of the caps C O, or by means of a straight or curved rack Whose pinion will have its axis also in one of the arms of the. caps G O, or by any other means. The hydraulic wheel receives its supply of water-from either the cocks R or B, Fig. 3, according to the direction in which it has to be turned. These cocks are adjusted on a tubular cross-piece, B, having two longitudinal channels, 0 and 0, extending through it, which communicate, each by a special pipe, with the two pumps P and P, Figs. 1 and 2. In the present instance each channel 0 has eight cocks-four for turning the wheel in one direction,- and four for turning it in the other direction. This arrangement allows the pumps 1? and P to be used alternately without stopping the motor.

Ihe object of using a number of supplypipes provided with cocks is to regulate the flow of water upon the wheel, in such proportion as will fill each bucket to its greatest extent as it changes its position without allowing the waste of any water, which must neces' sarily be economized in an overshot-wheel.

The water, after having produced its useful effect, falls into a tank, W, furnished at the bottom with cocks and pipes D D, which carry the water alternately into the barrel of one pump or the other. These pumps are simple in construction, and merely carry back the water which they contain to the cross-piece B. They each consist of a cylindrical body, in which slides a piston, 19, formed of leather, confined between two metallic plates. The body of each pump is in communication with a trough, a, through an opening, 1), these troughs receiving the water from the cooks D and D. Each piston is furnished with toothed rod, T, forming a rack, around the cylindrical part above which is wound a spiral spring, 1'. This spring is confined between the top cross-piece of a frame, E, which serves as a guide for the rod, and a shoulder on the latter. By this arrangement the spring exerts a pressure from above on the piston, and drives back the water in the body of the pump. To raise the piston when it is at the bottom of the cylinder, a lever, L, furnished with a sector gearing with the rack T, is forced down, which at the same time compresses the spring r. The levers L L of the two pumps can be fastened down by spring-catches Z when their respective pistons are raised.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Suppose the pump P to be full of water and its piston raised, the cock D, which corresponds to it, is closed, and the cock I) is opened, after having raised the piston 19 in order to allow the pump P to receive the water flowing from the tank W. The lever L is then fastened down and the lever L released. The pump P begins to act, and drives back the water, through its pipe t, into the channel 0, corresponding to one range of cocks. The number of cocks in each row suitable for the force required, and on the side which corresponds to the direction in which the wheel has to turn, are, it will be understood, opened in the first instance. The water which flows from the open cocks, communicating with the channel 0, falls into the buckets and puts the wheel in motion; but after a time the pump P becomes empty, and the water pumped up returns to the cylinder P, which becomes filled. The lever L is then released and the cock D is closed, when the pump P begins in its turn to work. The water which it drives back mounts by the pipe it into the channel 0, and flows out by the open cocks, which are in communication with this channel. The hydraulic wheel thus continues its motion without interruption. The same efiects are thus successively produced; and it suffices, in order to keep the wheel in motion, to lower the levers L L, alternately, as soon as each respective pump becomes empty.v

It should be understood that the different parts of this apparatus which have been described may be modified without changing the principle. For instance, the spreading of the waterover the wheel can be efi'ected by a system of flood-gates and apertures like those in actual use,-and which consist, for instance, of

- a series of openings in the proper direction, ar-

ranged to be closed at pleasure by a sliding flood-gate.

The operation of the cocks D and D may be made automatic by mechanism easily conceived, and which would act at the moment the corresponding piston was raised.

The pressure on the pistons may be exerted by several springs combined, or-,by a weight at the top of the shaft, as indicated by the dotted lines, Fig. l, the said weight being employed in combination with or independently of the said springs.

The proportions of the capacities of the pumps and the water-escape necessary for putting the wheel in motion will vary according to the power to be obtained and the use to which it is put. The levers L L, in some instances, will only require to be operated at intervals corresponding to the interruption in the work. The length of these levers should be in accordance with the strength required.

The number of pumps may be carried to three, four, five, or more. Then as many channels 0 as pumps would be required, and each pump would have to be furnished with a separate cock, D.

Mercury, oil, or other fluid may be employed.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with an overshot-wheel, of a series of supply-pipes, each provided with acock, and arranged, substantially as set forth, so as to regulate the quantity of water delivered to the wheel at difi'erent points.

2. The pipes or channels 0, each provided with two series of cocks inclined in opposite directions, for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of a series of buckets, a, adapted to each other, as described, with a plate or plates, S, or equivalent device, for simultaneously reversing the whole series of buckets.

In testimony whereof I have signed my nam to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BORAOH ALBERT BLOOH.

Witnesses EMILE RICHARD, J. BRiiouBPEv. 

